Houston's Voice creates a two-way channel that allows viewers to choose what they watch and to contribute self-made videos. Social media tools embedded in the site promote the videos' dissemination by website visitors.

"Never before has there been a resource like this," said W. Ross Wells, creative director of Zenfilm, a downtown motion picture production company that has contributed videos to the site. "Houston's Voice provides content contributed by Houstonians for Houstonians."

FCC has conditions

Comcast started the ad-free websites in six cities nationwide as part of a pledge it to local programming that helped it secure the Federal Communication Commission's approval of a majority-stake purchase of NBC Universal last year.

The FCC's conditions include a voluntary commitment by Comcast to introduce new online, on-demand delivery of "public, educational and governmental programming." So far, for Houston's Voice, that means video profiles of local artists, merchants, politicians and nonprofit organizations.

The city is not putting tax dollars behind the effort, but Mayor Annise Parker helped kick off the three-year pilot project with a news conference in the City Hall rotunda. Parker said she sees the website as a forum that could help bring together millions of local residents currently separated by language and geography.

"You're going to see the city of Houston increasingly engaged in these kinds of pilot projects for innovative technology, innovative access to media," Parker said. "We are reaching out to the world saying we want to be on the cutting edge."

Videos screened

The site's success depends in part on the continuing addition of new videos. Comcast has approved 40 community programmers so far but will feature videos from anyone who registers with the site and has submissions screened by the website's editorial committee.